Let’s face it, we all do it at times, however, If you are to overcome procrastination you first must recognise it. Here are some signs that you are procrastinating:
- Filling your day with low priority tasks
- Reading an email or document that is already on your prioritised To Do List more than once, without taking action or deciding when to start.
- Beginning a high priority task, and immediately switching to checking your email, making a phone call, grabbing a soft drink . . .
- Keeping a really important task on your To Do List for a long time, despite its importance.
- Automatically agreeing to do unimportant tasks others request even if it keeps you from important work.
Why do we procrastinate?
It might be that you don’t want to do it because basically don’t like the task, in which case:
- Make up your own personal reward for completing the task.
- Think about the unpleasant consequences of not completing the task (e.g., embarrassment, reprimand, warning, rejection of proposal, etc.)
- Identify the lost opportunity to your organization and team for your failure to complete the work
If the task is simply overwhelming:
- Break it up into smaller more manageable tasks
- Create an action plan the identifies phased steps for accomplishment
- Pick out some aspect of the project that allows for quick achievement to get you moving toward completion
One way of dealing with procrastination is to have a Business Mentor to hold you to account, Contact us to find out more about how a Mentor can help you .
